Tinsel

Eye Behold Photography

Korey
“Show your
light.”

Storyteller

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 There is an intensity in Tinsel Korey’s
eyes. Even when she is relaxed, the
pensive tilt of her graceful dark brow,
the subtle tightening of her lower
eyelids, and the reflective stare that
“I’m a storyteller, I
observe what’s
going on in the
world and I pull
from that.”
seems to penetrate more inward than
out suggest this multi-talented artist is
in a perpetual state of rumination. In
other words, there’s always something
running through her mind.
“This is very, very true,” Tinsel
confirmed with a charged L.A. vitality
brightening her voice. “I’m definitely a
cerebral person. I think I have insomnia
most days because my brain just
doesn’t have the ‘off’ switch. I wish I
could find it, but I don’t know where it
is. So, yeah, I’m definitely a thinker.”
“And art is my therapy,” she continued.
“If I’m going through something and I
can’t sketch or I can’t play music, it’s
like I’m suffocating because I don’t
know what to do with those emotions.
Performing is a release for me, as well.
It’s very cathartic.”
Don’t let the unmarred flesh throw you,
you already know this young woman.
Tinsel Korey plays Emily Young in the
phenomenon known as THE TWILIGHT
S A G A . T i n s e l ’s f i r s t p r o f e s s i o n a l
television role was in 2003 on FOX’s
T RU C ALLING which starred Eliza
Songwriter’s Monthly - April ’11, #135
Dushku and Zach Galifianakis. She’s
been working steadily ever since.
Unfortunately, the endless hours of
filming do not leave the songwriter
much time to pursue her craft.
“Acting has definitely gotten in the way
of music,” she agreed. But not in a way
she regrets. Korey is a storyteller and
she thrives on telling her stories
through any medium available to her.
“People are always asking, ‘If you could
pick one or the other, which one would
you pick?’ But to me, it’s like back in
old Hollywood, you had to do
everything. At the end of the day, no
matter what medium I’m working in,
it’s all just storytelling.”
However, Tinsel acknowledged that her
music has been tugging at her with a
little bit more insistence lately. “Music
has just been sitting on the back burner
for so long. Every time I’ve tried to put
“If I’m going
through something
and I can’t sketch or
I can’t play music,
it’s like I’m
suffocating because
I don’t know what to
do with those
emotions.”
out a CD, I’ve booked an acting job . . .
which is good, but I want to do music. I
just spoke with my manager and I said,
‘I need some time to do music and to
http://www.scribd.com/SongwritersMonthly
 elaborated, “I’ve done

Eye Behold Photography

acting for so long that,
unless I find the
perfect role, it can
become tedious. I find
so much material that
has come my way is
not something that
excites me. Right now,
music is where my
energy is going.”

But what is it about

music that has such
an allure for Korey?

“It’s the one place that

I can go where I
can . . . where I can
b e m y s e l f,” s h e
confided. “When
people ask me, ‘What
kind of music do you
write?’ I always
answer, ‘Soul music.’
Not in the sense of
James Brown, but
more like that’s where
it comes from.”

Tinsel’s current single,

“Letter,” is a breathy,
soul-searching ballad
about finding the
resolve to move on
from an unhealthy
relationship. The lyrics
concentrate fully on it because I’m are boldly intimate while the melody
always being pulled away from it.’ I encourages inner strength. Korey’s skill
think it’s just about me saying, ‘Hey, I as a writer is even more impressive
have to put this in the foreground for a than her ability to engage an audience
second.’” and draw them completely into a story.

“A t t h i s p o i n t i n m y l i f e ,” s h e When asked what she went through

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 that made her write “Letter,” Tinsel song, there was truth in it — it might
revealed, “A lot of my songs are not not be what I was going through, but it
necessarily what I am going through. was the truth of the situation.”
Sometimes, for example, in order to
u n d e r s t a n d t h e o t h e r p e r s o n ’ s “I know this is Songwriter’s Monthly,”
perspective in a Korey furthered, “but I
relationship, I’ll write believe acting also
songs as the other “In acting, you’re helps you through the
person and not as taking a truth of writing process. Every
myself so it gives me a single person should
grasp, fully, on what yourself and you’re take an acting class at
the situation is rather pushing it to the least once because it
than just being selfish helps you get in tune
and thinking about it
limit.” with yourself. I started
from my perspective. a Tumblr page [http://
‘Letter’ was actually written after I tinselkorey.tumblr.com] and I put all my
found out that my friend was going acting classes [101 to 401] that I’ve
through a domestic violence situation. I written out for people who want to get
wrote it from her perspective in the into acting on there. A lot of people
sense of what I thought should happen: have asked me how to get into the
s h e s h o u l d wa l k away f r o m t h e business, so I’ve just kind of written it
situation because love doesn’t hurt. The out. Its my personal experience.”
song is also a reflection of just the
relationship in general: sometimes you Despite the many focuses Tinsel has in
can try your hardest [and it still doesn’t her life and her career, every interview,
work out]. So, there were lots of every story you can find about her,
different levels. It wasn’t about my eventually leads back to one thing:
personal experience, I took different TWILIGHT.
elements and thought about everything
that was going on and that’s where that “That’s because TWILIGHT is so hot
song came from.” right now,” she commented. “I get it
and I love being a part of this film and
The performance is so emotional and this cast and getting to meet the fans
convincing, it’s hard to believe Tinsel and all of that stuff! But I do have a
didn’t extract the lyrics directly from career . . . I had a career before this.
her own private diary. There’s more to me than meets the
eye, I guess?”
“I’m a storyteller,” she reminded. “I
observe what’s going on in the world When asked if she’d even want the
and I pull from that. It bums me out magnitude of attention TWILIGHT has
when people are like, ‘Oh, actors are placed on her acting career directed
just really good liars.’ In acting, you’re towards her music, the artist replied,
taking a truth of yourself and you’re “Of course! I want people to hear my
pushing it to the limit, so even with this music. There are so many artists who
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 think when they are underground or artists have: “When you are able to
independent that they are not allowed open your heart and show your light, it
to have success. Don’t you want to be a allows other people to do the same
thing rather than us all just sort of
going through the motions of life.
“When you are able Especially with the internet and social
to open your heart media, that disconnect is there, you
and show your light, almost don’t know how to be human
anymore. When songwriters allow
it allows other themselves to just be free and have
people to do the those emotions, I think it allows other
people to recognize the humanity in
same thing.” themselves, as well.”

paid artist so that you can do more and
possibly create more opportunities for
other artists who are coming up? Artists
who think that money is evil or it totally
takes away their street cred . . . that’s
insanity. At the end of the day, you
need to put food on the table. So, of
course, I would love lots of people to be
able to hear my music!”
It’s not likely that you’ll have much
trouble locating more information on
Tinsel, but if you want to visit some of
her official sites, start here:
www.tinselkorey.com
http://www.twitter.com/tinselkorey
http://tinselkorey.tumblr.com
www.youtube.com/tinselkoreytv

“But do I want the fame side

of it?” she asked herself. “I’m
not interested in fame. I want
people to see the art, but I
don’t want them to see all the
material stuff with it, you
know? That’s the struggle with
me getting something like
T WILIGHT which is so big,
sometimes people miss the
small things because it is so
grand. A lot of my fans have
noticed the small things I am
doing, but it’s been work:
‘Hey, pay attention to this! I’m
doing something else.’”

In closing, Korey brought up http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?

id=hyTjEIK1pMo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0

something she believes is an

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%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Falbum
%252Fletter-single%252Fid416045167%253Fuo

unspoken responsibility that

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